Aspen, CO!

Our family had a little get-away this past weekend that was much needed!  I babysat a few weeks ago and earned some "family fun" money so that we could plan a day trip to drive up to Aspen, Colorado.  It's a 3 hour drive if Shawn drives, and a 2 1/2 hour drive when I drive ;)  So even though we drove for half the day, it was well worth it!  I wanted to go and do something fun as a family before it gets too cold, my belly gets too big, and while there is still only 1 baby to take on a road trip. So off to Aspen we went!  We were quoting Dumb and Dumber lines the whole way there- such a classic movie....anyway, that was off topic...let me get back to Aspen.

It is just BREATHTAKING!  Of course the Aspen trees are famous for their colors and they are changing right now since it's Fall and they are just gorgeous.  There are millions of them everywhere- they are bright yellow and green (my Dad would like that) and a few orange and red ones in the mix as well.

Way to go Shawn! <3

We started the day off by going on a beautiful family hike.  Shawn hoisted Lucy on his back in our back pack and off we went.  There are a million hiking trails to choose from, and each of those trails has trails veering off of them as well.  But we memorized our trail, because we will need to come back and visit....this is because my sweet, thoughtful husband decided to carve our initials in a tree.  Awwww, isn't that adorable?  Yes, I thought so.  Shawn isn't always Mr. Romantic  so when he said he wanted to do that, my heart melted (I should mention that he is very sweet and thoughtful in his own way, and I love him for that, but he's just not a Nicholas Spark's kinda guy....haha!) So off we went in search of the perfect tree to carve an "S," a "B," and then an "L" and a "P" for Lucy and Piper, complete with a heart around all 4 letters.  Someday, we will have to go back and add more initials that may come our way.  But for now, I just thought that was sweetest suggestion Shawn could make.

Then we had a big, delicious salty lunch at a Mexican restaurant down town and then pretty much just walked all around the town the rest of the day.  The streets are all cobblestone and brick and they have little streams and fountains all throughout them.  The stores are all Prada and Louis Vuitton type stores, so needless to say we couldn't afford to go shopping!
There was, however, a street fair/Farmer's Market happening downtown and lo and behold, we stumbled upon a Mitt Romney booth!  It was awesome.  NO ONE in Aspen is Republican!  So they stocked us up with all sorts of free Romney and Elephant stickers.  SCORE!  At the fair, Lucy met a british clown who made her a bumblebee balloon.  The permanent marker that the lady used to draw the bee's face on was not the best idea for a toddler who likes to put things in her mouth....black permanent marker was everywhere!  Oh well.  We also went to a candy store to buy 2 teeny tiny bags of candy that rang up at $12.  I'm talking 5 sour-belts and 20 jelly bellys.  Aspen just smells of wealth. Everything cost a fortune there!!  Parking was $12 for 2 hours....I mean, just ridiculous.  Needless to say, all my babysitting money was spent on little things I didn't know would cost so much, but it was fun to have the money available to be able to have a fun day as a family without feeling guilty for breaking the bank!  The weather was absolutely perfect and we all had a blast.

And what could be more perfect for my husband than a day spent in Aspen meeting tons of LSU fans?  Apparently LSU's Rugby team was there for a match that day!  So everyone was wearing their LSU gear on the sidelines and we watched the LSU Rugby players kick Aspen's little tooshies :) Shawn was in heaven....and Lucy was passed out (see picture above).

We hope to make this an annual family trip because it's just so beautiful and clean up there- there really is nothing like breathing in that crisp, fresh mountain air...feels a little like Heaven on Earth :)

Apparently we have a future DJ on our hands! Lucy loves putting on headphones :) This was on the way home- she did really good in the car that day....thank goodness!

 Thank You, Aspen, for welcoming the Gilley's for a day...until next year!!